The Bob Dylan Album That Made Townes Van Zandt Want To Be a Songwriter

It is a rather redundant and undeniable truth that Bob Dylan‘s lyrics are among the most influential of all time. However, take his lyrics out of the equation, and one is still left with a highly influential musician. Outside of his lyrics, the other way Dylan influenced the music world was by becoming a popularized and commercialized singer/songwriter. Before his boom, this was a rarity. In a way, Bob Dylan paved the way and provided hope for many musicians such as Townes Van Zandt.

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For anyone who liked poetry and could play a chord or two on guitar, Dylan was the person to emulate. Between his unconventional career path and impolite disposition, musicians studied how Dylan made himself into the nearly fictitious character he is today. Of course, his Pulitzer Prize-winning lyrics have a say in the matter as well. Though, to Van Zandt, Dylan’s influence was about more than just being a songwriter. Rather, it was the fact that Dylan was proof that Zandt, too, could make music with just his heart, guitar, and profoundly metaphysical thoughts.

‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’ and Townes Van Zandt’s Changed Tune

The celebrity status between Dylan and Van Zandt couldn’t be more different. Bob Dylan is Bob Dylan, and Van Zandt was a bar-hopping musician. They shared very different views on the spotlight and the power of a platform. Regardless, both shared a mutual admiration for one another and praised each other on several occasions.

Dylan takes the cake for being one of Van Zandt’s premier inspirations and one of the reasons he took on a hard-up life in songwriting. Before hearing Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin for the first time, Van Zandt was on a straight-line path. In his sights were college, law school, and consequently, a house behind a white picket fence. However, he seemingly wasn’t born for that kind of life and Dylan helped him realize that.

The minute Van Zandt heard Dylan’s albums he knew that “this is what I’m gonna do” per Texas Monthly. To Van Zandt, Dylan “was using a regular guitar and regular words and putting them together and coming out with songs that meant something.”

Given Van Zandt’s similar lyrical disposition, it seems Dylan and his album struck quite a chord. And it was a chord that not only incited him to write songs but a chord that made him think, if this guy could do it, surely Zandt could, too”.

Following his initial exposure to Dylan’s record, Townes Van Zandt stated that he had “been writing songs ever since.”

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